Cannes 2012: Blue Angel and Delux Form Infinity 8

The new, Berlin-based company will focus on international film and high-end TV co-productions.

CANNES - Doris Kirch's Blue Angel Films and Belgium shingle Delux Productions have set up a new production and financing joint venture called Infinity 8 Films to focus on the financing and production of international feature films and TV series.

Delux toppers Bob Bellion and Jimmy de Brabant will head up the new Berlin-based venture together with Kirch. The trio are veterans of the co-production scene with features including The Girl With The Pearl Earring (Delux) and Heather Graham-starrer Miss Conception (Blue Angel) among their screen credits.

"We feel we can achieve more together, by pooling our resources on the financing, production and distribution side," Kirch told THR. "We are convinced that Europe has to co-produce in order to make extraordinary movies happen," added Bellion and De Brabant of Delux.

Infinity's set-up will allow it to tap various European state funding and tax initiatives, including the newly announced Flanders Film Fund. Germany and Belgium’s generous tax incentives for film production make them go-to locations for international co-productions.

Two titles on Infinity 8's slate include Berlin Palace, a period drama set in the forbidden jazz music scene of Nazi-occupied Belgium; and Constantinople, an 8-part television event drama in the style of The Tudors. Belgian director Dominique Derrudere, an Oscar-nominee for Everybody Famous (2000) whose credits also include German action comedy The Wedding Party, has signed on to helm Constantinople. Infinity 8 is currently in final negotiations with a U.S. distribution partner for the series.

In addition to production, Kirch said Infinity 8 is also looking to focus on new media technologies to develop cross-over financing, production and marketing strategies and hopes to this end to tap into Berlin's fast-growing tech start-up community.

“We are not bound to traditional means of producing or distributing,” Kirch told THR. “We want to work with young talent in the new media community in Berlin to find innovative ways to get our movies made and seen.”